Chapter Text
The next day was peaceful, thankfully. Somehow, Athena had gotten the day off, she assumed Hera had something to do with it. Unfortunately, she had had a day off in…ever, so she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Luckily, her wife actually had a healthy relationship with her work, so she was able to give her some advice.
For some reason that advice was wrapping her in blankets and forcing her to stay on the couch.
"Darling, I'm not sure what the point of this is." She said.
"The point is relaxation, babe." Pallas replied, wrapping the egg in a blanket and placing it on her wife's lap.
Athena instinctively curled around her unborn child and pulled the blanket around her shoulders closer to her body. "I'm not sure I remember how to do that."
Her wife smiled. "Just don't do anything work related and you'll be fine." She said, kissing her on the forehead. Pallas put her hand on the egg. "Think of it as a bonding experience with the little one."
"How am I going to bond with an egg?" Athena asked.
"I don't know." Pallas said. "You'll figure it out." Then she left to go do her duties and Athena very quickly found herself getting bored.
She wasn't going to spend all day on the couch wrapped in blankets, as comfortable as it was. She thought for a moment about what she could do. She could get started on things for the baby, that probably wouldn't count as work, crafting always helped her relieve stress.
Athena carefully stood up and carried the egg to her craft room. Sitting at her loom, she figured a blanket would be the easiest, seeing as she wasn't entirely sure if her child was humanoid. She pulled out a spool of green thread and started working.
It was a little uncomfortable sitting with the egg in her lap, but it wasn't the worst position she'd weaved in, that would be when her hip got broken during the Gigantomachy and she insisted that she could sit up for long periods of time. She could, but it was incredibly painful, and Pallas and Nike made her promise to never do that again.
A few hours later, Athena was about halfway done when she heard the first thump. She looked down in her lap and found that the egg was gone. Looking around the room, she found it, right as it thunked into the opposite wall.
The goddess of wisdom internally panicked while checking the egg for cracks and other damage. She didn't see any visible damage, which wasn't horrible, but her baby could still be hurt. Fates, why did she think this was a good idea? She had been left alone with an egg for only a few hours and she'd already messed up, how was she supposed to raise a child?
She calmed down slightly and wrapped the egg in every blanket she had in the room. "Alright little one." She whispered shakily. "Let's go visit your grandmother."
***
Athena's basement was a secret. Very few people knew about it and that was for a very specific. The entirety of the basement was a chamber that she had dedicated to her mother with the help of Hera. It had helped with grief a bit but it still stung whenever she came down there.
The main purpose of the chamber was to store the statue she had made centuries ago so she never forgot what her mother looked like. She had made it out of olive wood and spent days in Quick Thought to make sure she got every detail right. Hera looked like she had seen a ghost when she saw it.
Athena crawled into the statue's lap, carefully cradling the egg close to her, and rested her head on its chest.
"Hi mama." She whispered. "I'm sorry it's been a while. I've been busy." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have a kid soon."
There wasn't an answer of course. Athena wasn't sure why she talked to the statue but it usually made her feel better afterwards.
"I dropped them today." She admitted. "I didn't mean to and I still messed up." She curled around the egg. "I wish you were here. You would be an amazing grandma." She sniffled a little and started silently sobbing.
She stayed like that for a while until she heard the door open. She quickly wiped her tears and tried to look presentable. The person ended up being Hera, so she relaxed a bit.
"Oh, sweetheart." The queen said, approaching the statue. "What happened?"
Athena unwrapped the egg slightly and shakily explained what happened. When she was done, Hera gently pulled her down from the statue and held her for a second.
"I'm scared, mom." She said. "What if I broke them?"
Hera looked softly at her. "I could take a look. If you want me to."
Athena nodded and handed her mom the egg. The god queen did a few tests she didn't fully understand before the egg was back in her arms.
"Good news, she's alright." Hera said.
Athena looked up from the egg. "She?"
The god queen nodded. "Yes, she's developed enough that you should be able to feel her." She explained.
Athena put a hand on the egg and felt it. It was faint but it was there, a heartbeat. Through the heartbeat she was able to discover that her child was, in fact, a girl. She also learned that her daughter was already very curious about the world.
She looked up at her mom and wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.